The Wire (5/00, p.53) - "...[He] may be a stylistic chameleon, perhaps, but he's an elegant and engaging one, and this is a thoroughly engaging album."

Album Notes

Personnel: Guy Klucevsek (accordion).

Liner Note Authors: Guy Klucevsek; Kyle Gann.

Recording information: Chruch Of Holy Trinity, New York, NY (1986-1994); Church Of The Holy Trinity, New Zealand (1986-1994).

Photographers: Peter Schaaf; Macioce.

Another utterly delightful CD of Klucevsekian accordion oddities. The opening selection is Klucevsek's own "Transylvanian Softwear" (1991) and features gypsy/Eastern European scale flourishes that grow into a steady, captivating dance beat, music for a Hasidic wedding. The "Viavy Rose Variations" (1989) are based on two delightful major-key, traditional accordion melodies from Madagascar in triple meter. The feeling is that of a light, bittersweet mood. Toward the end, Klucevsek shows off some lovely improvisation in quickly running passages. John Zorn's "Road Runner" (1986) uses effects like shaking tone clusters and banging and knocking on the instrument, together with brief quotes from tangos, Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsodies," fake boogie, "Flight of the Bumble Bee," the theme to Dragnet, Bach's "D Minor Prelude" and "Fugue," jolly Spanish tunes, "Blues in the Night," diminished chord riffs, Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony," and more, all in the spirit of Carl Stalling's soundtracks for the classic Road Runner cartoons. Klucevsek's "Perusal" (1988) explores Andean panpipe music by shifting a simple melody in stereo between accordion speakers and then creating different thrilling accompaniments to the tune. His "Bandoneons, Basil and Bay Leaves" (1993) is a touching tribute in memory of Astor Piazzolla. The "Three Microids" (1991) are fascinating studies after Bartók's explorations of folk music: "My Right Foot, on the Other Hand" contrasts 3/4 and 10/8 simultaneous meters, "Eleven Large Lobsters Loose in the Lobby" uses the accordion exclusively as a percussion instrument with a lot of "Hey!" shouting, and "Bustin' Broncos in the Balkans" has "yippee-yo-ki-yay" shouts and a Balkan romp dance. William E. Duckworth's "Slow Dancing in Yugoslavia" (1990) transposes a well-known American popular song to a Middle Eastern scale. Fred Frith's "The Disinformation Polka" (1994) is written like someone slowly trying to figure out what a polka is. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny